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Unity 5.3 released, hello modern OpenGL system for Linux gaming

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Unity 5.3 has been on my radar for one single reason, they finally have a modern OpenGL system! I really hope developers upgrade to it.

QuoteWith Unity 5.3, we’re shipping a number of new features which raise the bar for rendering quality and deliver improvements to rendering efficiency.

For starters, there’s a brand new OpenGL 4.x core, which will replace our legacy OpenGL 2.1 core. This allows you to take advantage of the very latest OpenGL features on Windows, OS X and Linux, whilst also being able to scale to older versions of OpenGL, depending on the user’s OpenGL driver support. Note that in 5.3, Unity will default to the new OpenGL core, but you can switch to legacy OpenGL 2.1 manually to maintain previous behavior. Our current aim is to remove the legacy OpenGL core in Unity 5.4.


See the full announcement here.

I would urge developers to update, as the Linux version should perform better with the new OpenGL system in. I am also pleased to see them aiming to remove the legacy system for the next major update, no point keeping it around. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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39 comments
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Belarrius Dec 8, 2015
Amazing news no?! More FPS?
sleort Dec 8, 2015
Quoting: BelarriusAmazing news no?! More FPS?

Actually there is a fair change that fps will improve. How much I cannot say,as I am not an OpenGL developer, but there should be some smarter memory management and other optimizations in 4.x extensions, which cannot be done in pre-4.x since hardware is the limitation.
Again I'm not a ogl dev, but by supporting ogl 4.x it might indicate better overall support of ogl - at least thats what I hope :D


Last edited by sleort on 8 December 2015 at 8:07 pm UTC
keiki Dec 8, 2015
There is also a Linux version available for the unity editor in beta status:

http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/unity-on-linux-release-notes-and-known-issues.350256/
musojon74 Dec 8, 2015
Cracking news. Yep get updating devs. ( easy for me to say from the sidelines of course ).
Guest Dec 8, 2015
Quoting: GuestThere is also the fact that WebGL is an officially supported build target.

Thats actually really good. Would that open up possibilities for games like Quake Live ?
Orkultus Dec 8, 2015
Quoting: keikiThere is also a Linux version available for the unity editor in beta status:

http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/unity-on-linux-release-notes-and-known-issues.350256/

Download keeps failing for me.
Mountain Man Dec 8, 2015
I hope the Cities: Skylines developers are paying attention. We might finally get good performance in Linux.
Segata Sanshiro Dec 8, 2015
How easy is it for developers to upgrade? That's my concern here.
PublicNuisance Dec 8, 2015
Any progress is welcome progress.
Creak Dec 8, 2015
Quoting: Mountain ManI hope the Cities: Skylines developers are paying attention. We might finally get good performance in Linux.

I'm not sure Cities: Skyline uses Unity.

Anyhow, this is great news! I hope the new OpenGL 4 engine is good (bumping to the latest version of OpenGL is one thing, making a good engine with it is another)
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